Chapter 3

Lambert, the former general of the Regius Kingdom, also known as the armored skeleton, stared in shock at the blade of the sword he was holding. The sword reflected the image of a skeleton clad in armor. Red flames flickered in the depths of the eye sockets, emitting a mysterious light.

Lambert, though turned into an undead, retained a clear sense of self. This was because the strength of his will and lingering attachments far exceeded Mana's expectations. Mana had never anticipated that the skeleton he had chosen would be a great hero who met an untimely death during the war that unified the eight countries.

"W-What... What..."

His voice remained strangely the same as it was in life. It was emitted directly from the clump of mana located in the center of his skull.

"Indeed, I am dead... R-Regius Kingdom is..."

As he thought this, the memory of his battle with Glyph flashed through Lambert's mind. Then, the beautiful face of his lord, Aurelia, appeared in his mind, and he recalled being betrayed by her.

"No, I wasn't betrayed. As a king... it was necessary."

Though he said this, his resentment towards her had not completely disappeared. He had always believed that Aurelia considered him a close friend. Lambert's sense of fighting for Aurelia was stronger than fighting for the country.

He had never thought it a waste to offer his life for her. However, the fact that he was judged as a troublemaker by her will and killed was the most sorrowful thing for Lambert.

(Did I come back to life as a monster due to my lingering attachments? How pitiful I am...)

Lambert felt ashamed of himself.

He sensed the gathering of mana in the depths of his skull. These two points were the source of his current power. Lambert instinctively realized this and considered using them to commit suicide, but he held back.

(I want to know what happened to the war... to the Regius Kingdom...)

Lambert picked up the helmet that had rolled to the side and placed it on his head. As long as he wore the helmet, no one would realize he was an undead when he appeared in public.

Though he had been betrayed and killed, his desire for his homeland to win the war and for his lord to become the unifying king of the western part of the Warlimia continent remained unchanged.

(Still... what were they?)

He suddenly turned his gaze to the corpse lying behind him.

The lower half of a boy's body, collapsed in a pool of blood, was the necromancer Mana, whom Lambert had just cut in half.

Mana, a prodigious magician, had mastered the white magic of a prestigious family at the age of eight and then delved into the forbidden art of necromancy. At fourteen, he was already widely known as a member of the "Flute Devil" group. It was a daily occurrence for him to send a horde of undead to destroy a village and create a new mountain of undead.

He was treated as a bounty with a high level of danger, classified as a giant demon, the second highest level on the five-tier scale used to evaluate monsters. It was said that at least twenty top warriors were needed to defeat him.

The high danger level was primarily due to Mana's necromantic abilities. This time, he was caught off guard and defeated without proper preparation, which was not a typical scenario.

(He seemed to say he would destroy the Regius Kingdom. Then, is he from the Macularus Kingdom? I don't know how long I've been asleep, but it seems the war hasn't ended. What face would Glyph make if I came to his aid...)

Lambert sighed as he looked at the pitiful upper half of Mana's body lying in the distance.

(Still, what a cruel thing the Macularus Kingdom does. Sending a child who clearly hasn't been properly trained to the center of the battlefield, the Augran Valley. They must be desperately short of manpower. They should just surrender immediately...)

Lambert recalled the terrified face Mana had shown just before he was cut down, assuming he was a novice in combat. In reality, Mana had always acted from a distance and had no mental preparation for being killed. Lambert, unaware of this, did not realize that the boy had destroyed several villages as a necromancer.

In terms of pure magical skill, Bruig was more powerful and had more combat experience than Mana. However, he was classified as a lesser demon, one level below Mana. It was quite unusual for a monster as tough as an undead demon, known for devouring humans, to be ranked alongside humans.

Bruig's exceptional magical skills far surpassed those of ordinary magicians. His unique continuous magic, which significantly reduced the activation time and span, was beyond the capabilities of ordinary humans. If Bruig unleashed a barrage of magic without regard for the backlash, it would be difficult for anyone to approach him. Those ensnared by the earth he controlled would be immobilized and then surely killed. Any place with earth was Bruig's domain. This is why he was feared as "Bruig, the Earth Spider." Bruig believed he could never lose in a one-on-one battle with a human. He never imagined that the earth's constraints would be forcibly broken and that he would be split in two, including his skull.

This was something Lambert did not know and, at the same time, did not care about.

(The activation was a bit faster, but there was no power. Even if it was fast, it was a speed that could be avoided if one had a clear sense of self. Was he brought here by force when he was already weakened by age...)

In the chaotic times when Lambert lived, strength was everything. Everyone went to great lengths to master swords and magic, risking everything in daily battles. Those who could not grow in such extreme conditions died quickly. Lambert was a man who stood at the pinnacle of such warriors. The slightly offbeat group from a peaceful country was like infants and old men to him.

(Using children and the elderly, what a cruel thing. For the sake of the people of both his own and the enemy country, this war must end soon...)

Lambert, filled with a misplaced sense of justice, ran down the cliff. As he ran, he thought of Aurelia's face.

Her well-ordered, beautiful blonde hair, her blue eyes filled with strong will, her soft, fine skin, and her well-shaped, strong eyebrows. The feminine smile she sometimes showed only in front of him, different from her usual self.

Lambert felt a pain in his chest and pressed it. However, beyond the metal armor, there was only an empty cavity filled with bones. He pressed his eyes, realizing that no tears would flow, and laughed to himself, feeling lonely.